Defining the price of hospitality

Abstract

This study examines how money mediates and structures social exchange in a hospitality exchange service, and how social and economic factors guiding exchange get intertwined in this context. We present a qualitative study on the experiences of people who offer to rent out their homes, or parts of them, via the online peer-to-peer renting service Airbnb. Our study suggests that the frame monetary transactions set to exchange relationships contributes to the hosts' sense of control and ease in the exchange. We identified two behavioral patterns that highlight the importance of reputation and trust: (1) hosts divert their accumulated reputational capital into the rental price and (2) they may price their property below "the market price", so that they can choose their exchange partners form a wider pool of candidates.